Open Text posts higher adjusted profit, sets dividend

OpenText Corporation executive chairman Tom Jenkins speaks during an event upon the release of his report on military procurement in Ottawa February 12, 2013. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

(Reuters) - Canadian business software maker Open Text Corp OTC.TO (OTEX.O) reported a 25 percent rise in third-quarter adjusted profit as its cloud-based services business expanded, and the company initiated a quarterly dividend of 30 cents per share.

Revenue from the license business, which is also a measure of future demand, rose 13 percent to $69 million, its first rise in five quarters.

Open Text Chief Executive Mark Barrenechea told Reuters that he expected license revenue in the second half to grow from a year earlier.

Open Text, whose software helps large companies, government agencies and professional service firms manage compliance and other information, bought EasyLink Services last year to tap the growing cloud and mobile business.

Adjusted net income rose to $74.2 million, or $1.26 per share, in the third quarter from $59.2 million, or $1.01 per share, a year earlier.

Net income fell 26 percent to $25.8 million, or 44 cents per share as it set aside more for income taxes.

Shares of Open Text, which has a market value of $3.32 billion, closed at C$57.74 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday. It’s Nasdaq-listed shares, which closed at $56.26, were up 2 percent in aftermarket trading.